Continued from last week...

Girls night dinner at Gogo Sushi : )

Sorry to leave you guys hanging like that last week. Are we ready for two more cheap, easy & awesome DIYs? YES WE ARE!!

BTW, please know that my Blogger formatting is still being crazy. I swear I'm not typing centered but for some reason, it shows up that way when its published. I've tried everything but technology has bested me. I give up; we'll just read everything aligned to the center tonight. Sorry (if this bugs you as much as it does me).  (;_:)

Here's the finished project for my coworkers' Christmas gifts.

Infinity scarf tutorial:

       Last year, I sewed scarves for Mike and Wes. This year, I thought it would be fun to make some for the females. 

       Materials needed- fabric (I'm using an old dress that doesn't fit me anymore, a dress that was gifted to me to use as fabric because it didn't fit its previous owner & some scrap cloth from a different project), scissors, tape measure, sewing machine & pins

       This project was actually free because all the fabric was used or scrap. But, if you didn't have old clothes or fabric, you can buy some cheap-o t-shirts from the Dollar Tree to use. 

Dress from Jessa, dress I bought myself & fabric for pillows I made Athena & Sonja.

1. Measure and cut the cloth into strips. It doesn't matter how many strips. I cut a few and sewed them together to have a variety of colors. The length and width depends on how big you want your scarf to be. I made three scarves: one for Jessa, one for Courtney and one for Wes' mom (not pictured because I was in a hurry and forgot to take a picture before I wrapped it). The scarf I used for this tutorial is the one pictured after step #3. 

    My measurements were: 

       red cloth (2 pieces) - 23 x 5 inches,

       beige cloth (1 piece) - 33 x 5 inches,

       patterned cloth (1 piece)- 28 x 5 inches

2. Hem the edges of the cloth, if needed. I used some really thin fabric so I hemmed mine to ensure that it won't fray or tear with use. Then lay the strips of cloth in whatever order you want & pin it all together to make a round piece of fabric

3. Sew the pieces together where you had pinned. And there it is... an infinity scarf!!

There are literally hundreds of Sharpie ceramic mug blogs/tutorials out there. Trust me, I read a bunch of them to get a good idea of how it's supposed to be done. I love the idea of customization and personalization so I definitely wanted to make some of these mugs for Christmas gifts. I took notes on the best advice from other crafters and came up with this.

Jessa & Mason's mugs. They're having a Pokemon themed wedding in March and I thought this would be a great pre-wedding gift.

Sharpie ceramic mug tutorial:

Materials needed- cheap ceramic mugs (the cheaper the better is what most bloggers say for this project), Windex & paper towels, Sharpie permanent markers

1. Take off the manufacture's sticker, bar code, price dot, etc from the mug. Make sure to really tear it off. We don't want anything catching on fire in the oven! Then wipe down the mugs with Windex.

2. Draw, color, go to Crazytown Decoration-ville on your mug. I did one for each of my coworkers (#team HCR) and then I did 3 pairs. A pair for Wes' video gaming best friends, and then a pair for my friends Courtney & Alex and Jessa & Mason. Wait three days before moving onto step #3. This will give plenty of time for the ink to settle in.

Down, Right, Fierce Street Fighter Move for Travis.

3. Place the mugs into a cold oven (aka DON'T pre-heat), turn the oven on to 450 degrees Fahrenheit and let bake for thirty minutes. After the 30 minutes, turn the oven off but do not open it. The mugs need to stay in the oven to cool. I let mine cool over night. Then the next morning, you have neat mugs that you decorated yourself. Oh, how thoughtful!!

I made three sets: the first is for new parents Courtney and Alex, the mugs read Mom needs coffee/Dad needs coffee; the second pair is for Wes' friends, Travis and Cameron, they have Street Fighter commands drawn on them; and the last pair are for newly engaged Jessa and Mason who are avid Pokemon fanatics, I drew Pokeballs on the mugs but you can't see them in this picture. I did research for the Street Fighter & Pokemon mugs so I wouldn't draw anything incorrectly.

A few weeks ago, Wes & I had his two best friends over for dinner (for Christmas). We all chipped in and got Wes a PS4. (This was my idea even though I don't know a lick about video games.) I also bought him Fallout 4 and an extra controller--so they could all play together. Wes also got his friend a PS4 game. And I drew Street Fighter super attack command moves onto their mugs (my idea but Wes had to show me what the commands looked like).  LOL 

So...it's been a few weeks since I wrote this and give Travis & Cameron their mugs (I think we all had our dinner on December 27th). It has been reported that the Sharpie has started to wear off. Do no put these mugs in the dishwasher and wash them very gently to avoid fading. 

Erica's handmade Christmas gifts.

My Christmas gift to the Sapp family (but mostly for Courtney LOL).

I know I'm about a month late with posting this but I didn't want to post anything until after my gifts were delivered, which happened to be at dinner tonight. Luckily, none of these projects are holiday themed so you can make and gift them for any occasion. Let's change the title to "Erica's handmade everyday gifts." LOL
       Now that I'm writing this, I think I was late with posting my handmade gifts last year, too. I guess my new tradition will be to post Christmas gift DIY projects in January.

For my coworkers.

I chose three easy and inexpensive projects for my gifts this year. I was super swamped with pillows, craft shows and custom orders so I needed Christmas DIYs that weren't too involved.
     ...And my unrewarding day job was super stressful and extra terrible this year so I had zero holiday cheer >.> Blame it on changes in management and job duties/responsibilities. *rolls eyes*

Cookies & Street Fighter mugs for Wes' two best friends.

I think every craft/DIY blogger has a segment about Dollar Tree projects. It's like a transformation story...
       "buy these seemingly un-craftlike things from the Dollar Tree, read my creative project blog, and turn them into awesome projects that look totally classy and not like they are from the Dollar Tree."
       I personally love the Dollar Tree (household items and office supplies for only $1!!!) and reading about these cheap projects. They are so fun and simple! I have so so many saved from Pinterest on my to-do list but I've never really done any of them. For my projects tonight, I have one classic and two that I think are originals (I could have been inspired by an existing project but I feel like I mostly made it up on the fly.)
       We're  going to borrow a page from Sesame Street's book and use the number three as our theme... three projects, done in three steps, using three (okay, maybe a few more) materials. Let's go!

For Courtney, Rachel, Tashara, Audra, Jessa & Brendon

Framed artwork tutorial:
       Materials needed- cheap picture frames--we'll just be painting over them, a calendar (I used an old one from 2014), paint & paint brushes

1. Remove the backs and glass from the frame. Clean the glass with Windex to get rid of finger prints. I hate how frames and artwork get so dirty and smudgy at the store! Ugh!

2. Paint the frames. I am really proud of the colors I mixed. I think this is the best purple I've ever made!

       I wanted them to look rustic/vintage so I only used one coat of paint. The original color of the frame was still a little visible so it looks "worn." I normally do two coats of paint on everything, though.

3. Measure & cut the artwork (calendar pages, in this case) to fit the frames and place them back into the frames. A friend of mine got this calendar for me & Wes for our first Christmas together. I really liked the Keep Calm and Carry On poster at the time.

       I had some fun dessert stickers from an old Halloween costume that I ended up gluing onto the frames (not shown in this picture but they're on the first picture). It made the finished project more whimsical--my coworker, Brendon, loves whimsy. (LOL...inside joke...)

So... I was totally just kidding about the three projects tonight. I do really have three crafts to blog about but I don't have enough time for them all tonight. Plus, you've read enough for one night, right? And for some dang-gum reason, my blog formatting aligned to 'center' without my input & I don't like it!! Typing any more is just going to drive me crazy! I've already teased what the other two projects are with my pictures but you'll just have to wait until next week for the tutorials.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Erica made Ruthie a stuffed animal.

One of my friends had her first child this year. (Congrats Courtney & Alex!!) I was going to sew her a mommy/daughter pillow set for Christmas but I had already made pillows for her baby shower gift and didn't want to be redundant. I decided I would try to make a rag doll (or I guess this is a "rag bear") instead. It turned out okay for my first stuffed animal ever but I don't think I will be moving into the toy business any time soon. LOL

I made this while I was at the Holiday Handmade Craft Show a few weeks back. The show died down after lunch -- there were bad storms forecasted-- so I had a lot of downtime. I didn't have a pattern so I had to just imagine what a stuffed teddy bear should look like and make it up as I go. Luckily, one of the volunteer's daughters helped me with this project. It's always good to have kid input when you're making a kid project. Shout out to Mary Kate (age 8, third grade, not scared of bugs and can finger crochet with both yarn and Wal-Mart sacks)--thanks for your help!!

Handsewn stuffed bear tutorial-

       Materials needed: different colored/patterned scrap cloth (I used t-shirts, of course!), sewing machine, scissors, fabric chalk, hot glue gun & glue sticks, pins, cotton stuffing, needle &thread, googly eyes, any other accessories (I used felt, some wings off a dog Halloween costume and ribbon)

Pardon my mess...this picture might or might not show all the materials needed.

1. This bear is made out of 8 small stuffed pieces --> 1 head + 2 ears + 1 body + 2 arms + 2 legs.                Draw & cut out two pieces of each part of the stuffed animal. I folded my cloth in half so I would have two pieces when I cut it out (it made for less to draw & trace). I also pinned around the perimeter before I cut so my two pieces would stay together.

       I didn't have much for patterns since I was at my craft show and I didn't bring all my art/sewing supplies. But I got some good ideas from Mary Kate. The body is the size of the entire Styrofoam plate and the head is the inner smaller circle.

My work space is entirely too small : (  Mary Kate is there helping me!!

2. After cutting out the 8 pieces --well 16 pieces, actually-- needed for the bear, sew the pairs together (that's why we needed two of each). Leave an opening on each piece for the stuffing. 

       If you're adding anything (the big heart, for example), sew it on now. If not, add stuffing into the pieces and sew the opening up. I use a sewing machine for everything, but if you don't have one, this project can be sewn by hand. 

3. Arrange your pieces to form a bear. Stitch the parts together by hand. 

4. Use hot glue to glue on the googly eyes and any other accessories. I wanted this to look like a rag doll so I glued on different colored ribbon and felt hearts for decoration. I finished the bear (shown below) at the show and added the ribbon later when I got home. The finished project is the first two pictures I posted on this blog.

       I stitched the wings onto the body piece (toward the end of step #2) but I think I probably should have waited and hot glued them on last instead because they ended up being lower than I wanted and a little lopsided. But they looked fine when I stitched them to the body. I guess that's why you wait til last to add on details. 

I had all the pieces sewn together but I couldn't finish this at The Crown Center because I didn't have a needle & thread. Mary Kate wanted the bear done right then and there so she and her two brothers went around asking all the adults if they had any needle & thread. It was pretty adorable. Her youngest brother didn't understand why I couldn't just use my pins because they looked like a needle. The closest thing they could find for me was knitting needles, which were technically a type of needle but not exactly what I needed. 

       Wes came up after getting off work so he could help me pack up. I called him and asked for needle & thread (I had tons at home but forgot to bring them) and he saved the day. The bear was complete!! 

Courtney & Alex are really into anime and fantasy and I assume they will raise their child on Fairy Tale and Blue Exorcist so I wanted to give this bear some element of fantasy. Glittery purple wings was all I had. I don't watch any anime so I really don't even know if characters have wings but in my mind they do, so thus, the bear has wings. 

RagsReborn looks forward to 2016

#tbt (even though its a Monday) to my first ever craft show. My how time flies!!

January is upon us and that means year #2 in business for RagsReborn.  \(^_^)/ I did a brief recap of my first year in business last week, so this week, I'll do a quick look ahead for 2016.

Here are two shows I wanted to do in December but didn't have time for. (;_;)

       Goal #1 is to participate in more shows!! I want to do two shows per month. Considering that I did three in November, that shouldn't be too hard of a goal to accomplish. There were two other shows that I wanted to do in December but the demands of my day job prevented me from fully dedicating myself to my business. Which was a total bummer.
       Unfortunately, there aren't too many shows in the spring so I'll be starting the year off slow. I haven't applied for any January or February shows, yet, but there are a couple in March and April that I want to be a part of. Three shows I really enjoyed were held at the YMCA, Triumph Family Worship and The Crown Center so I will definitely be applying for those shows again. I also plan to seek out more shows at churches. I'm not particularly religious but I had a really good time at the churches' craft fairs. My favorite part is how supportive the community was at each show that I participated in. The staff and volunteers are always so enthusiastic and welcoming.
      If you are a vendor/crafter, help me out here... below is a list of shows that I am interested in. Please let me know if these shows are worth doing. And if you have some that you like to participate in, let me know. I welcome all suggestions!

* Heartland Hunnies (they're the event organizers, actually, not the name of the show) & OKC Flea -- these were the two that I wanted to do in December but couldn't due to Delta Dental obligations. But luckily, they both also have spring/summer shows so I can look forward to that next year.
* Cleveland County Fairgrounds craft shows (I actually know a couple of vendors who do this show regularly and have high praises for it. This is one of the ones I plan to do in the spring.)
* The Santa Market (I applied for this show but got wait listed. *sad face* I heard it's pretty competitive and they only accept you if you have a good resume. Being completely new to this business, my resume was not impressive enough. I think I literally did one other show before I applied. LOL)
* The Earthglow Market & Jingle Bell Bazaar (both are held at churches and both came recommended to me by other vendors)
* The Christmas Bazaar at the Central Presbyterian Church (I drove by the church and saw a huge sign. Yes, advertising does work!)
* There were a few in Norman that I don't remember the name of and the Peanut Butter Drive in Mustang-- I found these shows online. I've been staying in the OKC Metro area but I've been told by other vendors that it's better to branch out to other cities.
       Smaller towns really embrace craft shows as something they look forward to. Oklahoma City has so much art and local talent that a craft show is no big deal but holding an event in a more rural area gives it's residents something to do on a weekend and they come and take it all in. Or so I'm told...

Goal #2 is to become a legit business!! I mean, I'm a business now already but for 2016 I want to manage the whole process a little bit better. I didn't keep very good records of costs and net profit. I kinda just randomly wrote things down in my journal. I opened a business bank account but barely used it (I do plan to put money in it this upcoming year and only use it for RagsReborn purposes). I've appointed Wes as my operations manager and I plan on keeping a detailed ledger. I hated finance and accounting in college but I can't really manage my business if I don't apply what I learned at least a little bit.
       I need to get a Goodwill card in January!! It supports the Goodwill cause and it offers me 5% off each purchase. I also need to stop making totes and be a little more careful of which shirts I get. I have had a year to learn what sells and what doesn't. Sadly, people don't like Oklahoma themed merchandise as much as they like popular culture. I've also taught myself some fun patterns and sewing techniques that I can use for my upcoming pillows.  I plan to add some creativity to the back of the pillows and/or choose some different fabric types.
       I also would like to take the Oklahoma Tax Commission's small business class so I can get a tax ID number, register my business name and have an actual logo. Now that is as official as it gets!

The "before" picture ... all my stuff laid out and ready to display at the Holiday Handmade Show.

Goal #3 is to keep working on my booth display!! Right now it takes me less than an hour to unpack my car and set up my booth. And I can set up my entire booth on my own (although I prefer to have help from friendly craft show volunteers.) I have one big shelf, a vintage trunk and my sewing table. It used to take two car loads to get everything transported but Wes figured it out to where it will only take one (yay for geometry!!) I like the way my booth looks but sadly my handmade "double decker couch" shelf is on it's last leg. It is made from cardboard, fabric, glue and Velcro after all. It lasted me five shows and can probably do a few more but I need to start looking into other options.
       I have some crazy ideas and blue prints in my head but none of them are financially feasible at this time. Even if I had all the money in the world, I think it would still be a little difficult to move my ideas toward reality because the hardest part is finding something that is both collapsible and that can be easily stored once the show is over (aka not too big, not too heavy and not too many pieces). Wes has more practical ideas using grid walls and simple shelving. I'll probably gradually move to that.

This is a "pack-n-roll." I got it from Jessa and Courtney for Christmas. I am in love with it.

Since I don't have any shows planned for January or February, I will use these first two months of 2016 to apply for shows (goal #1) and get RagsReborn officially established in Oklahoma (goal #2).  I also plan to spend a lot of time sewing. I still have a few shirts that I didn't have time to make for my holiday sales season this year. I am at 86 items on my Etsy shop and I really would like to have a consistent 100 at all times. This will be the perfect opportunity to work on those new patterns that I mentioned earlier!

Disclaimer: this is an old picture and a lot of these pillows have already been sold.